Recognition is building that gender-based violence is a national emergency that needs to be tackled with urgency. But one key factor has been missing from the debate.
Many people know that alcohol and drug use can fuel gender-based violence. Fewer are aware that there are well-established links between external crises and the violence that occurs within the intimate spaces of relationships and homes.
Research overwhelmingly confirms that crises trigger gender-based violence. This occurs during health-related crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, where there was an explosion of violence when lockdowns confined women to their homes. In the first year of the pandemic, 60,000 women in New South Wales experienced domestic violence for the first time and 46,000 experienced an escalation in violence.
Environmental crises also lead to rising violence. During the Millenium Drought many women living in the Murray-Darling Basin suffered multiple health and wellbeing impacts including increased gender-based violence. In the aftermath of the devastating 2009 Black Saturday fires, multiple studies uncovered evidence of increased violence against women.
Why does disaster trigger gendered violence?
The reason why disasters exacerbate violence against women is rooted in the way that different genders respond to disaster.
Men are more likely to be involved in tasks like defending properties and attempting rescues, or the physical work of clearing debris or rebuilding structures. Women typically take care of the vulnerable, like children and older people, and engage in relational rehabilitation like cooking, caring and conversations.
Different gender roles during disasters lead to different kinds of impacts. Restrictive ideas about masculinity can trap men into ‘heroic’ behaviour which increases risks to their safety and prevents healthy emotional responses to trauma, with sometimes violent consequences.
One study into the impacts of the 2009 Victorian fires found that women were more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder and men were more likely to experience increased alcohol consumption. These gendered responses correlate to the severity of a disaster. Research into bushfire impacts found that the greater the damage caused by fire, the higher the incidence of violence against women in its aftermath.
While this evidence is grim, particularly in an era of worsening disasters, women and gender diverse people are more than just victims. They also bring critical and distinctive approaches to crisis response.
As climate change exacerbates the frequency of environmental disasters, emergency services are struggling to respond to the number and severity of crises we face. Informal community support is more important than ever.
Research shows that the ‘soft infrastructure’ of community resilience based upon networks of care needs to be strengthened before disasters even strike. Women and gender diverse people play a crucial role in sustaining relationships of mutual support within communities – their leadership is urgently needed in an era of rising disasters.
The evidence that climate and environmental issues have gendered impacts and require gendered responses is laid out in a new report by Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia. The report calls for more resources devoted to:
- Research untangling the links between gender and disaster
- Support for resilience-building efforts within local communities
- Training for service providers during and after emergencies
Women currently bear the brunt of disaster impacts. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Greater recognition of the links between gender and disaster and further funding to shift attitudes and behaviour can begin to ensure that all members of our society are equally protected from the impacts of climate change.